Music festivals on Vancouver Island say they’ll be taking extra safety measures this season in the face of B.C.’s unprecedented opioid crisis.
Organizers for the Tall Tree Music Festival, which comes to Port Renfrew June 23-26, say the rising number of deaths has them implementing more harm reduction methods at the event.
So far this year, 488 people in the province have died from fatal overdoses, 37 of them in Victoria.
A company that manages major events says a team will be at the festival with kits that can test drugs to see if they’ve been laced with the deadly opioid fentanyl.
“We’ve also included this year over 200 specific fentanyl testing strips, which detects fentanyl directly,” said mental health and addictions worker Kaitlyn Nohr. “We’ve also added in 25 forensic kits, so if individuals come test their substances and it’s positive for fentanyl, we can actually test them again in a forensic-specific test and turn them over to RCMP that way.”
The group says there’s no harm in getting substances tested and services are confidential.
“If you’re unsure…come get them tested, come talk to us,” said Nohr. “Talk about interactions and combination practices, see what’s safe and unsafe and then just take care of yourself from there.”
B.C.’s Chief Coroner says people taking party drugs can actually be at more risk than heavy users, because they may think they’re not in danger from casual drug use.
“They’re thinking, well I’m not opioid-dependent, I’m not a heroin user, I use drugs occasionally, I know my dealer, I’m okay. And in fact they’re not okay,” said Lisa Lapointe. “What we’re seeing more and more is those are the people who’re dying because they’re using in their residences, they’re using at their friends house or at a party.”
Organizers of Victoria’s Rifflandia Festival, which just announced its 2017 lineup, say they’ll also be stepping up harm reduction measures for the Sept. 14-17 event
They say there haven’t been any overdoses at the festival in past years, but admit the nature and consequences of drugs are changing fast.
With a report from CTV Vancouver Island's Louise Hartland
